1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to medical devices and, more particularly, to user interfaces and identification systems integrated with medical devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present invention, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
In the field of medicine, doctors often desire to monitor certain physiological characteristics of their patients. Accordingly, a wide variety of devices have been developed for monitoring physiological characteristics. Such devices provide caregivers, such as doctors, nurses, and/or other healthcare personnel, with the information they need to provide the best possible healthcare for their patients. As a result, such monitoring devices have become an indispensable part of modern medicine.
For example, one technique for monitoring certain physiological characteristics of a patient is commonly referred to as pulse oximetry, and the devices built based upon pulse oximetry techniques are commonly referred to as pulse oximeters. Pulse oximetry may be used to measure various blood flow characteristics, such as the blood-oxygen saturation of hemoglobin in arterial blood, the volume of individual blood pulsations supplying the tissue, and/or the rate of blood pulsations corresponding to each heartbeat of a patient.
Pulse oximeters and other medical devices are typically mounted on stands that are positioned around a patient's bed or around an operating room table. When a caregiver desires to command the medical device (e.g., program, configure, and so-forth) they manipulate controls or push buttons on the monitoring device itself. The monitoring device typically provides results or responses to commands on a Liquid Crystal Diode (“LCD”) screen mounted in an externally visible position within the medical device.
This conventional configuration, however, has several disadvantages. First, as described above, this conventional configuration relies upon physical contact with the monitoring device to input commands (e.g., pushing a button, turning a knob, and the like). Such physical contact, however, raises several concerns. Among these concerns are that in making contact with the medical device, the caregiver may spread illness or disease from room to room. More specifically, a caregiver may accidentally deposit germs (e.g., bacteria, viruses, and so forth) on the medical device while manipulating the device's controls. These germs may then be spread to the patient when a subsequent caregiver touches the medical device and then touches the patient. Moreover, if medical devices are moved from one patient room to another, germs transferred to the medical device via touch may be carried from one patient room to another. Even in operating rooms where medical devices are typically static, germs may be transferred onto a monitoring device during one surgery and subsequently transferred off the medical device during a later performed surgery.
Second, beyond contamination, medical devices that rely on physical contact for command input may create clutter the caregiver's workspace. For example, because the medical device must be within an arm's length of the caregiver, the medical device may crowd the caregiver—potentially even restricting free movement of the caregiver. In addition, caregivers may have difficulty manipulating controls with gloved hands. For example, it may be difficult to grasp a knob or press a small button due to the added encumbrance of a latex glove.
Third, current trends in general medical device design focus on miniaturizing overall medical device size. However, as controls which rely on physical contact must be large enough for most, if not all, caregivers to manipulate with their hands, monitoring devices that employ these types of controls are limited in their possible miniaturization. For example, even if it were possible to produce a conventional oximeter that was the size of a postage stamp, it would be difficult to control this theoretical postage stamp-sized pulse oximeter with currently available techniques.
Additionally, even as medical devices become smaller, the need for secured access remains prevalent. First, medical device alerts and alarms often require the attention of a caregiver to ensure patient health. Access to medical devices by non-caregivers could result in ineffective patient care. Second, the recently passed Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPPA”) regulates patient privacy and security. HIPPA privacy standards require the protection of patient data from inappropriate and unauthorized disclosure or use, and HIPPA security standards require physical safeguards to protect access to equipment containing patient data. As user interfaces evolve, new methods of providing secured access will be desirable. For example, traditional entry screens can be secured using passwords. However, as device interfaces evolve to eliminate entry screens, the traditional password protection process may no longer by feasible.
In addition, conventional techniques for outputting medical data also have several potential drawbacks. For example, as described above, conventional techniques for displaying outputs rely on LCD screens mounted on the medical device itself. Besides constantly consuming power, these LCD screens must be large enough to be visually accessed by a caregiver. As such, the conventional LCD screens employed in typical medical devices also may be a barrier towards miniaturization of the medical device. Further, conventional screen-based output techniques may be impersonal to the patient and may lack configurability by the caregiver.
For at least the reasons set forth above, improved systems and methods for interfacing with and being identified by a medical device would be desirable.